Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1315 Beyond the Realm
Wang Jinwu responded, "I have made all the arrangements in Shanxi, Your Majesty need not worry. Li You arrived in the capital yesterday, and I had a long talk with him. I also gave him instructions regarding the affairs of the cabinet."

At this point, Wang Jinwu paused, then said to Zhu Shenzhui, "Li You's abilities are not bad, not to mention his loyalty. In fact, His Majesty has watched him grow up, so His Majesty can rest assured about that. However, what I am worried about is Li You's prestige in the army, and I am afraid that many people in the army will be dissatisfied with his entry into the cabinet to succeed me."

Zhu Shenzhui nodded. Wang Jinwu's concerns were reasonable. In fact, it was a bit of a hasty decision to let Li You join the cabinet this time. Originally, it was planned to be arranged slowly over several years, but who would have thought that something unexpected would happen?
Under the current circumstances, we have no choice but to use Li You for now. We can't possibly put Wu Xiang, Zu Dashou, Cao Wenzhao, Cao Bianjiao and others into the cabinet, can we?

Although in terms of military rank, Wu Xiang and others were all Jinwu Generals, Li You was only transferred from the Beiyang Navy Admiral to the capital by Zhu Shenzhui when he was confirmed to be entering the cabinet to succeed Wang Jinwu. At the same time, he was promoted to Jinwu General, serving as Deputy Chief of Staff and Admiral of the Beijing Garrison (New Army Admiral).

The problem is that compared to Li You's reliability, Wu Xiang and others, let alone joining the cabinet, even Zhu Shenzhui, who was sent to lead an army alone, would have to think twice.

Firstly, Wu Xiang and Zu Dashou were originally from military families in Liaodong, and Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao also had experience in Liaodong. Previously, due to Li Chengliang, the earliest example of this, the military families in Liaodong were extremely corrupt, and later Yuan Chonghuan further created chaos in Liaodong.

Leaving aside other issues, even considering the considerable effort Sun Chengzong put into reforming the military in Liaodong, it was merely a superficial effort to subdue these unruly soldiers. Later, when Emperor Chongzhen captured Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou even disregarded the siege of the capital and led his troops away, directly expressing his strong dissatisfaction to the court. Such arrogant and fierce generals might be fine in battle, but it was impossible to give them too much power. If they were allowed to occupy high positions and wield significant authority, it would be a disaster for the country.

This is also the main reason why Zhu Shenzhui has kept Wu Xiang and others in the General Council over the years. Although Wu Xiang and others have high titles and official positions, and the General Council has now basically replaced the original Five Military Commands, as long as they do not have actual military power, and the main responsibility of the General Council is only "consultation", he is not afraid that they will cause trouble.

Furthermore, these individuals had complex and intertwined relationships, often intermarrying and overlapping ties. If one of them was chosen, the others would inevitably rise to prominence. While using military generals to check and balance civil officials within the cabinet was not wrong, Zhu Shenzhui absolutely did not want military generals to truly overpower civil officials and thus occupy a dominant position in the court.

Military interference in politics has always been a major taboo, and the emperor's methods are essential for maintaining a balance between civil and military affairs. This was not only clear to Zhu Shenzhui, but also to Wang Jinwu. This is why Wang Jinwu usually refrained from expressing his opinion on matters of state that did not involve military affairs in the cabinet. He was very clear about his role in the cabinet, which reassured Zhu Shenzhui and others.

In fact, there were two other candidates who were more suitable than Li You: Zhou Anmin and Zheng Hongkui. Unfortunately, as a member of the imperial family, Zhou Anmin had no chance of entering the cabinet. If he were to join, there would inevitably be a lot of opposition in the court. In addition, although Zhou Anmin had long since left the Embroidered Uniform Guard, everyone knew about his past in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Furthermore, although he no longer directly controlled the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it was still influenced by him. No one wanted a Grand Secretary with an Embroidered Uniform Guard background in the cabinet.

As for Zheng Hongkui, he is more suitable than Li You in terms of both rank and seniority. Moreover, after the Zheng family group was destroyed, Zheng Hongkui and Zheng Zhilong had long since severed ties. He was all alone and had no one to rely on except the emperor. Unlike the Liaodong military family group, he did not have a deep-rooted network of relationships in the Ming military and court. Appointing him as a Grand Secretary was actually a very good choice.

Unfortunately, Zheng Hongkui is currently leading troops abroad, taking the combined fleet to Southeast Asia to fight the Dutch. The war in the South China Sea has only lasted for half a year from the beginning to the end, and this war will not be over so quickly. However, cabinet matters cannot wait for anyone. As soon as Wang Jinwu left office, someone had to take his place immediately. Therefore, no matter how suitable Zheng Hongkui is, he can only settle for second best.

“Although you are observing mourning in Shanxi, you cannot neglect everything. I will have someone send you documents regularly. You will also need to take care of Li You,” Zhu Shenzhui said leisurely.

“This…” Wang Jinwu hesitated for a moment and said, “It’s fine with the military, I have already made arrangements. But since I have resigned from my position in the cabinet, it is inconvenient for me to continue to interfere. It’s not that I’m afraid of criticism, but it is really inconvenient for me to do so. If there is nothing major, I will at most pay attention to it.”

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and nodded. If it were the old Wang Jinwu, he probably would have gone with the flow long ago. But over the years, Wang Jinwu has matured and his irritable temper has been greatly tamed. He has also become more composed. The fact that he can say these words today is a testament to the years of teaching he has given him.

Waving his hand, Zhu Shenzhui said, "Since I have said so, you don't need to refuse. After all, you need to observe three years of mourning, and you will have to return to the capital to take up your post after three years. Even if you can't return to the cabinet immediately, you will still be in charge of the new army. In addition, Li You is young and inexperienced when he first entered the cabinet. You know the situation in the cabinet very well. He is your disciple, and as his master, you can't just stand by and do nothing. It is only right that you help him get started and see him through."

Upon hearing this, Wang Jinwu breathed a sigh of relief and nodded with a smile: "This is something I can handle, Your Majesty can rest assured."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing," Zhu Shenzhui said. "After you return to Shanxi, keep an eye on the north for me. The Tengger brothers are attacking the northern desert. In my opinion, the war in the northern desert probably won't end anytime soon. I'm worried that with the Tumed and Chahar tribes advancing north with all their might, some people on the grasslands might have ulterior motives." "You stayed in the Tumed back then and know the situation on the grasslands. Also, your sister-in-law and Wang Hai are in Guihua. Keep in touch with them. If there are any changes on the grasslands, I grant you the authority to make decisions on the spot. Take this with you, but remember! It's best not to use it unless absolutely necessary."

As he spoke, Zhu Shenzhui pointed to an imperial edict and a Shangfang sword that had been prepared in advance and instructed Wang Jinwu.

Wang Jinwu quickly rose and bowed to the emperor, accepting the imperial edict and the imperial sword with great ceremony, indicating that he would certainly handle the matter well in Shanxi. Seeing his attitude, Zhu Shenzhui didn't offer any further instructions. He trusted Wang Jinwu's abilities completely, and giving him these things was merely a backup plan, to be used only in case of unforeseen circumstances, and not to be used under normal circumstances.

The emperor and his minister discussed the matter of the northern desert. When they had finished talking, Wang Jinwu was about to take his leave when Lu Jiude, the chief eunuch of the Qianqing Palace, came in from outside to report that he had just received a report from Zheng Hongkui from the South Seas.

Upon hearing that it was Zheng Hongkui's report, Zhu Shenzhui instructed Lu Jiude to bring it up directly and gestured to Wang Jinwu, telling him to stay put for the time being. As the Vice Minister who had not yet officially resigned, Wang Jinwu was naturally qualified to know about military matters, especially those in the South China Sea.

Zhu Shenzhui opened the report and read it carefully, his face immediately lighting up with joy, as it seemed to contain good news. However, as he read on, Zhu Shenzhui frowned slightly, then appeared thoughtful, as if considering something.

"Your Majesty?" Wang Jinwu, who had been waiting for a while, couldn't help but ask.

"Oh, take a look at this report too. The news is quite good. Zheng Hongkui has taken Batavia." As he spoke, Zhu Shenzhui casually handed the report to Wang Jinwu.

"Batavia has been taken?" Wang Jinwu was startled upon hearing this, then his face lit up with joy: "This is great news! Wasn't Batavia supposed to have high walls and thick defenses, with thousands of Dutchmen stationed there? And wasn't the city well-fed? How could it have been taken so quickly? Commander Zheng is no ordinary man!"

"Hehe, Zheng Hongkui is no fool. Otherwise, I wouldn't have sent him as an envoy to Europe back then, and I certainly wouldn't have let him lead the army during this voyage to the South China Sea. However, although Batavia has been captured, the war is not completely over yet, and there are still many troubles to come. That's why Zheng Hongkui has come to me to complain. Take a look at this report and give me some advice."

Wang Jinwu responded and then opened the report to read it carefully. The report was very detailed, from how it was planned and how the scheme was used, to how the sudden attack was launched to take advantage of the internal strife in Batavia and seize the place in one fell swoop. The report explained everything clearly.

In addition, there was a report on the situation after the capture of Batavia. Although Batavia had fallen and the Dutch East India Company's headquarters in the Far East was now in the hands of the Ming Dynasty, the war was not over immediately. Firstly, the Dutch still had colonies in Banten, Aceh, and other countries, which not only had officials sent by the East India Company but also a portion of their troops stationed there.

Furthermore, Malacca is a crucial area second only to Batavia, and the Dutch garrison there is intact, making its capture no easy feat. Although Zheng Hongkui sent envoys on behalf of the Ming Dynasty's combined fleet to demand the Dutch surrender, the Dutch explicitly refused, and were even prepared to resist fiercely. Therefore, the Ming army would have to go through another major battle.

Therefore, capturing Batavia merely meant seizing the Dutch headquarters in the Far East, and did not signify the end of the South China Sea conflict. Furthermore, the special circumstances surrounding the Battle of Batavia did not mean the Dutch were incapable of fighting. The Dutch were still a formidable force. Zheng Hongkui had attempted to launch a fleet attack on Malacca, but the problem lay in Malacca's strong fortifications and advantageous terrain. Even though Zheng Hongkui's strength far surpassed that of the Dutch, after initial engagements, he realized that capturing Malacca in one fell swoop would not be easy. A direct assault would undoubtedly inflict significant casualties on the Ming army. The Dutch in other locations faced similar situations, displaying an attitude of fighting the Ming to the death.

In addition, there was the situation in Batavia. Although the Ming army had occupied Batavia, the situation regarding its rule was not optimistic. Considering the actual circumstances, Zheng Hongkui could only implement military control over Batavia at this time. This was because Batavia had not only been under Dutch administration before, but also involved various local forces, including Batavian merchants, churches, natives, and Chinese communities living there.

For many years, the Dutch rule in Batavia had been maintained by these people. The Dutch were the rulers, but much of the actual work was done by them. Now that the Ming Dynasty had replaced the Dutch as the masters here, many things still required their support to be implemented. Moreover, Southeast Asia was full of small countries with complex ethnic relations. The Dutch had long established a feasible political framework there, but now that framework had been broken and a new order had not yet been established, Zheng Hongkui faced numerous difficulties in truly and effectively ruling Batavia.

(End of this chapter)